BLANTON, JAMES (JIMMY
). Jazz bassist ( in Chattanooga, Tennessee; in Los Angeles, California). He came from a musical family; his mother, a pianist, led her own band. He studied violin as a child, then changed to double bass when he attended Tennessee State College in Nashville, Tennessee (1934-37), where he played with the State Collegians, led by
Samuel (Sammy
) Lowe
in 1935. During his college years he also played with local groups and during vacation periods...